Sorry to be long winded. I wanted to add the statistics from the 2000 AAP Red Book put out by the Committee for Infectious Diseases.

Apparently, prior to intrapartum antibiotics, the incidence of GBS was 1-4 per 1000 live births. Now, "without maternal prophylaxis, early-onset diasease accounts for approximately 75% of infant cases and occurs in approximately 1 infant per 100-200 colonized women. Case fatality ratios range from 5% to 8% but are higher in preterm neonates." They do not give the infection rates for women who receive intra-partum antibiotics but one can presume that they are a lot lower.

Kate
Kate McIntosh MD FAAP
Benzonia, MI 
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